The present invention relates to a glove compartment for housing an article provided on a vehicle. Especially, the present invention relates to the glove compartment comprising a lock mechanism for preventing a theft of a housed article.
As for a glove compartment for an automobile, there is known a glove box. In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-247084, there is described an opening/closing device for a glove box, and the opening/closing device comprises a lock device locking a lid body in a closed state; and a button-like handler releasing a lock thereof.
On the other hand, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-96309, there is proposed a glove compartment for a motorcycle. The glove compartment comprises a storage box disposed inside a handle cover; and a lid body which can open and close an upper side of the storage box thereof.
As with the device described in the Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-247084, if the glove compartment is provided inside a vehicle interior isolated from the outside, articles inside the vehicle interior can be prevented from a theft by a lock of a door and the like, so that a necessity for providing antitheft measures for the glove compartment itself is low. However, as with the glove compartment described in the Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-96309, in the glove compartment wherein the lid body is exposed to the outside, there is a risk that the housed article may be stolen, so that some antitheft measures are required.
However, recently, an electronic toll collection system (ETC) for a motorcycle has prevailed, and a demand for housing valuables such as an ETC card and the like in the glove compartment and the like provided with the antitheft measures is expected.
Also, in such a glove compartment, the lid body is exposed to the outside, so that it is important not to inhibit airflow during driving, and a design property. Therefore, in order to provide the antitheft measures, it is required to prevent inhibitions of the airflow during driving, and of the design property.
In view of the aforementioned circumstances, a main object of the present invention is to improve a glove compartment for a vehicle wherein a lid body thereof is exposed to the outside in such a way as to provide measures for preventing a theft of a housed article without inhibiting the airflow and the design property. A second object of the present invention is to provide a glove compartment for a vehicle which can be harmonically integrated into a cowl of a motorcycle.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.